Neuroendocrine aspects of primary endogenous depression: VI. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of the cortisol suppression index versus the dexamethasone suppression test in patients and matched controls |
| |
Authors: | J T McCracken R T Rubin R E Poland |
| |
Institution: | Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance 90509. |
| |
Abstract: | The cortisol suppression index (CSI), which is the ratio of the predexamethasone (DEX) serum cortisol concentration to the post-DEX cortisol concentration, has been investigated as an alternative means of analyzing the response of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis to DEX. We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to examine the CSI versus the corresponding standard post-DEX cortisol values in a sample of 40 primary endogenous major depressives versus 40 matched normal control subjects who underwent a DEX suppression test (DST). The CSI was highly correlated with post-DEX cortisol values and showed no advantage in test performance over the standard DST across a wide range of criterion values. ROC analysis is a useful technique for determining the utility of the DST and other biological markers in psychiatry. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|